An Open Letter to Married Men Looking to Cheat – From a Divorced Woman

You are extremely fortunate to have found a woman to love and take care of you. Hopefully she’ll live with you until your last days on earth. The boredom and tedium of being with the same partner every day might be getting to you. Maybe you don’t have sex as often as you’d like, or you think other married couples are getting it on more than you and your wife. You might get nostalgic about your youthful encounters with women. New partners may have been in and out of your bed on a regular basis.

The younger, attractive women on the subway, down the hall, or in the elevator at work seem almost within reach. You think to yourself – if only I was single. You have delusions of gorgeous women falling for you like they did when you were in college. Only now you’re not in college, you’re a married father, or at least a husband.

So you go out after work and leave your wedding band in your pocket. You walk just to the edge of doing something inappropriate and then pull back. I know you do this, because I’ve been that woman you’ve talked to in the bar, on the subway, or at the party. A few times I’ve even seen you slip the ring off the finger, or keep your left hand mysteriously hidden in a pocket, for most of the evening.

Being single past a certain age, say 35 or 40, is not the party it was in your twenties. You’ll find a lot of younger people don’t want to date you, unless you are incredibly charming, extremely good looking, or have some power, influence or money. The older you get, the less likely anyone will want to stick around for the long haul. You are also competing with young perfect bodies of men half your age. They might not have the wisdom and experience but they have stamina and washboard abs. The young ones can also stay up until 4 am with ease and don’t have aching joints, bad eyes and sensitive stomachs. They might not have your sexual prowess, but they are like energizer bunnies in the sack.

When you get invited to parties you’ll find yourself surrounded by couples and married friends. The dating pool is half-dried up with potential age-appropriate prospects, and what is available is largely damaged goods. Women who have been through brutal divorces or breakups. Finding time to date will also be tricky. Your job is more demanding, with longer hours and higher stakes. Most potential partners are also extremely busy with their own kids, epic work schedules and other obligations.

So before you decide to cheat on your wife, please take this as a word of warning. If you get along with your spouse, and things are generally pleasant at home, do everything you can to make that work. The alternative is a lot of lonely nights eating greasy Chinese takeout by yourself, and wondering how you got there. You might also lose most of what you have worked so hard to get your entire life, your apartment or home, time with your children, investments and security.

If you’re miserable in your marriage and you’ve tried everything to fix it, then get out. Walk away without causing more pain by cheating. I’ve had more than a few friends use infidelity to end their marriages. Cheating was a means to an end. But infidelity will just cause more damage and wreak havoc in everyone’s lives.

I’ve known more than a few couples who decided to transform their marriage into an open one, where both partners have affairs outside of the marriage, or at least multiple sexual partners. The key to making these marriages work is lots of communication, honesty and equitable treatment. If you want extra partners, expect your wife will want some too. It’s not for everyone, but it might be the perfect option if you want to stay together but are finding yourself stifled by traditional monogamy.

Who’s going to take care of you when you are in your seventies, eighties and beyond? You might get lucky and meet the perfect partner and have a wonderful second marriage, or you could end up alone and more frustrated. Never assume that divorced women are going to find you that compelling, or have sympathy for your divorce sob story. Our spouses may have cheated on or betrayed us, and we are the last ones who want to hear a biased account of marital turmoil. You don’t want to end up stuck on a pity treadmill going nowhere. Single woman might not want to date a guy with a wife, and any woman who is so selfish as to lack empathy for your spouse, will probably lack empathy for you in the long run.

Love is a precious and rare commodity. Think long and hard before you throw it away. Before you decide to betray the trust of your spouse remember, there is a reason you got married. Try everything in your power to make it work, and please stop hitting on me, as lonely as I get sometimes, I’ll never get THAT lonely.

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